Bangor homeless shelter asking for donations

Although our weather, of late, has been mild, Bangor Area Homeless Shelter executive director Dennis Marble reminds readers that “winter fast approaches, and we still need homeless shelters,” which is why Marble wants you to know that the Bangor shelter is in the midst of its annual appeal.

“We have been fortunate to have so many friends and neighbors make donations year after year despite the problems and challenges they face in their own lives,” Marble wrote of the response to the shelter’s annual appeal.

Relying on private donations, the shelter counts among its “generous donors” the “Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, which, through a grant application process, recently provided $50,000 toward the continued operation of our shelter,” Marble said.

He reminds you that the shelter relies on such private donations to fund half its annual budget.

With no professional fundraising assistance, the shelter appeals only to those who have contributed previously, and its staff and volunteers are always most appreciative of first-time donations.

“Your support is even more important this year,” Marble wrote, explaining that the shelter is experiencing “a record level of demand for services.”

Its costs are up, and “the State of Maine has written new rules regarding the use of Medicaid funds,” he said.

“As we try to do what we think is right and collaborate with our partners” to help meet the needs of those using the shelter, Marble said the operation will be losing “between $30,000 and $40,000 in annual revenue.”

You can help with this shortfall by making out a check to the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter and mailing it to 263 Main St, Bangor 04401.

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Business and community members are invited to join Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Maine in kicking off its 2010 Bowl for Kids Sake fundraiser from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, at Family Fun Lanes, 15 Hildreth St., Bangor.

Stacey Coventry reports you can “enjoy a free lunchtime bowl and pizza while you discover how bowling for kids can change the lives of local children.”

You will learn how you can organize a team, be a team captain and collect pledges “to support a new mentoring relationship in your community,” Coventry wrote.

Big Brothers Big Sisters supports more than “150 matches and partners” with more than 20 schools in Penobscot, Hancock and Washington counties.